A few nights ago a friend shared a powerful little piece of writing that deals with the incarnation of Jesus. A bit of research shows that it comes from the end of a song by the rapper Json; this song closes with an extended quote from John Piper. For now, here it is. It seemed poetic, so I put it in the form of verse.
In order for Jesus to suffer and die,
He had to plan way ahead of time
because he couldn’t die.Immortal, He didn’t have a body
And yet he wanted to die.
For you.So, He planned the whole thing
by clothing himself with a body,
so that He could get hungry
and get weary
and have sore feet.The incarnation of Jesus is the preparation
of nerve endings
for the nails,
the preparation of a brow
or thorns pressed through.He needed to have a broad back
so that there was a place
for the whips.He needed to have feet
so that there was a place
for spikes.He needed to have a side
so that there was a place
for the sword to go in.He needed to have fleshy cheeks
so that Judas would have a place to kiss
and there would be a place for the spit
to run down that the soldiers put on him.He needed a brain and a spinal column
with no vinegar and no gall,
so that the exquisiteness of the pain
could be fully felt.So I plead with you, when you’re reading the Bible and you read texts like: “He loved you and gave himself for you,” you wouldn’t go too fast over it. Linger, linger, linger, and plead with Jesus that your eyes would be opened.
